The Savage

An ear-piercing cry left the creature, now so close she could feel the intense wind whipping around her from the monster’s massive wings.

Would she even survive this? Had leaving Styx been smart?

Am I even meant to survive any of this?

Styx wrapped his arm tightly around his female’s waist and moved through the corridor. He’d sensed her gone not more than a few moments after she’d left. Her scent had still saturated the air around him, so he knew she couldn’t have gotten far. And when he’d seen her standing at the cavern edge, everything in Styx had frozen. In that moment he hadn’t wanted to picture her taken from him. She might just have been put in his life a short time ago, but he’d already deemed her as his mate, and that meant for life.

The Kasha bird was the largest flying predator in the forest, and it had picked up on his woman’s scent. He chanced a look behind him and saw the bird making its way through the opening of the cave. Its wings had claws at the end to allow it to move swiftly on the ground. But Styx had advanced speed, and he picked up his pace. He heard his mate’s breathing increase, smelled her fear surround them, and the purely mated male side of him moved faster. He would not let anyone or anything hurt her or take her away from him.

The creature screeched out loudly, the cavern becoming even narrower the farther he moved. That was what made this home protected from the outside elements and predators. If one did come through, the cave was too small for them to pass into because of their large sizes. And if a smaller creature made it into the main part of his cave, he could hold his own against it.

“The more frightened you are, the faster the creature will come.” Although telling her that wouldn’t stop her from being afraid, he wanted her to know how this worked. She might be from the same world as he was, but the forest, where he lived, was far different than she was probably used to.

He finally made it into the main cavern, set her on the ground, and grabbed his sword that hung on the stone wall with a hook. He moved toward the opening of the cavern, ready to face off with the creature, even if it couldn’t reach them in this part of the mountain.

He cast a glance over his shoulder at his female, saw she was wide-eyed, and smelled her panic. It was clear she was an innocent in this world. Wherever she’d come from, she either had been sheltered or hadn’t been thrust into dangerous territory. But Styx was glad things had played out this way, because if not she wouldn’t have fully understood the dangers of this land, or the fact he would, and could, protect her above all else.

With one more look right in her eyes, he turned and went to face off a beast that had meant to take his mate from him.

Chapter

Five

Audrey was shaking, every part of her tense, the fight or flight mode raging war inside of her. Styx had disappeared down the corridor only seconds ago, and the creature’s ear-piercing wail echoed throughout the cavern. There was a second of silence, and she held her breath, not sure what was going on. Styx had taken a massive-looking sword before he left, and all she could think of was him fighting that beast. How could he even possibly survive something like that? The beast looked like something out of a nightmare, and it had been intent on having her as dinner.

But then there was more screeching, followed by what sounded like metal on the stone. That fight seemed to go on forever, and as much as she wanted to leave, she was frozen in place, staring at the opening and expecting the beast to emerge.

Styx saved me even though I ran from him.

She shouldn’t have cared either way, but even telling herself that he’d taken her, claimed she was his, didn’t dim the fact he’d saved her life for the second time.

She rose up, her hands in tight fists at her side, her focus trained on the entrance of the corridor. Her heart was beating so fast and hard it almost drowned out the sound of fighting … almost. She heard grunts from Styx echoing off the walls, heard that terrifying creature screech out, and then there was nothing, silence, stillness.

Her pulse beat wildly at the base of her throat, and she started to move backward, away from the opening, not sure if Styx or that creature would be the one that emerged.

She turned and saw another very short corridor, this one lit brightly. There were two semi-large caverns that split off from the short corridor, but she could see there were no exits in either one of them.